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Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff Writer
SALT LAKE CITY — McNeese coach Will Wade, who started this season with a 10-game suspension for violating multiple NCAA rules, on Wednesday said the federal investigation into illegal payments to players “ruined a lot of people’s lives” and he wants the NCAA to let those affected to be allowed to return to college basketball.
Wade, who was hired by McNeese a little more than a year ago, said that even though he recovered from the allegations, penalties, suspensions and a firing, there were many involved who did not.
“I think it was extremely unfortunate,” Wade said Wednesday at the Delta Center as the Cowboys prepped for their NCAA tournament first-round game against Gonzaga. “I stay in touch with a lot of the people who haven’t been as fortunate as me to be able to find a route back.”
Wade said he felt the investigations ruined “good people’s lives for very little” — especially with how college sports has changed in the last seven years with the implementation of NIL.
“Everything that some of these people got their lives ruined for, it’s standard operating procedure today,” Wade said. “It’s just extremely disappointing. I wish the NCAA would step in and say, ‘Look, we need to let these other folks back in.’ We need to get rid of some of these punishments that they had.”
He added: “They’ve been punished. I promise you. They’ve been punished enough.”
Wade, who was fired by LSU after the 2022 SEC tournament and before the NCAA tournament, made his McNeese debut on Dec. 13, taking over a team that was already 8-2. The Cowboys finished 30-3, won the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles, and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.
Wednesday marked seven years to the day since Wade was named LSU’s head coach.
Asked about what’s transpired over that time, Wade tried to find the good.
“We’re never short for excitement on our roller coaster, so, it’s been fun,” Wade said. “Look, if I didn’t get the LSU job, I wouldn’t have been introduced to the state of Louisiana. [If I] wasn’t at LSU, I wouldn’t have been fortunate enough to get this McNeese job [and] have this magical and special season that we’ve had.
“It’d say it’s a net positive.”